Members of the All Party Japanese Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet during CTA President Dr Lobsang Sangay’s visit to the Parliament in Tokyo on 20 February 2018. (Photo courtesy: tibet.net)

(TibetanReview.net, Feb22, 2018) – At 90, the Japanese parliament, the Diet, has the largest number of Tibet supporters in any parliament across the free democratic world where such groups have been set up, said the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on its Tibet.net website Feb 20.

The All Party Parliamentary Tibet Support Group now has 49 MPs from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Eight from Nihon Ishin no Kai, seven from the Party of Hope, one Independent, one from the Democratic Party of Japan and one from the Party for Japanese Kokoro (Heart).

The report said President Lobsang Sangay of the CTA who visited the parliament on Feb 20 applauded the increase in the membership of the group which previously stood at 87.

The president of the group and former Education Minister belonging to the ruling LDP, Mr Shimomura Hakubun, was reported to have welcomed Mr Sangay to the parliament’s meeting hall which was stated to be decorated with the flags of Japan and Tibet.

The opening remark was delivered by Mr Nagao Takashi, an LDP MP and Secretary of the group. He was stated to have underlined the need for the group to come up with concrete and meaningful measures to support and alleviate the suffering of the Tibetan people by working to resolve the issue of Tibet through the Middle-Way Approach.

Mr Hakubun was stated to have emphasized the need to strengthen efforts by the group towards resolving the issue of Tibet through the Middle Way Approach. He has said the number of MPs taking interest and concern in the issue of Tibet will increase in the days to come.

Ms Sakurai Yoshiko, a veteran journalist who heads the think-tank Japan Institute of National Fundamentals, has said Japan shared the same Buddhist religion followed by the Tibetan people, which meant immense potential of support for the cause of Tibet.

The concluding remarks were delivered by Mr Baba Noboyuki, Chief Secretary of All Party Japanese Parliamentary Forum, who urged the members to strengthen their efforts to support the issue of Tibet.